The Story of Madison Keaton
by Carrro
Summary: After season three, Madison was never mentioned, and we were never told what happened to her. Here is my version of Madison's life, some years after season three.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N:_ This story was from the beginning written for the project CSI Case Files, a competition, on the site CSI Projects. The site is a place where you can chalenge yourself, and see how good author you really are. If you're interested and want to know more of this site, you can find it on There you'll be able to read stories for the different projects, read more of the whole idea with the site. I have only entered one project this far, but i recomend it very much. If you like any of the CSI shows, and like writing, then this is worth a try. Sorry, this wasn't supposed to be about the CSI Projects, but about this story.. Uh, well basically i didn't feel very well at the moment i wrote this, and i needed to express my feelings in some way. Like the title says, it's about Madison. The story is already written and finished, so the updates will come pretty fast; if there's someone who likes it and want me to update, of course! **

**_Disclaimer:_ The characters that will be found later in this story with the names Becki, Meghan and Christina, are not mine. Or well, in this story they are, but the thing is: they do exist. They are friends of mine for real. And btw, i didn't put them in this story until i had got permission! Madison Keaton and Suzie Barnham is characters from CSI: Miami, and CSI: Miami is Jerry Bruckheimer's. **

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I sighed and looked around me. I was sitting in our garden, with a notebook resting in my knee. The pen in my hand was old and worn, but still I refused to use another pen. It might sound weird – but that's the way I am. If I have something that works, why buy a new version of it? It might sound weird and old-fashioned, but I can't help it.

It was a very warm day, even for Miami. No man left their houses if they didn't have to. But the warmth didn't disturb me. I like it when it is warm. You could think that people who live here should get used to this temperature. But for some reason they don't. It's the same thing every time. As soon as it pass hundred degrees everyone stays at home, as close to the fan as possible. But I'm used to it, and write best when it is this warm. The grass in our garden was yellow; because of the warmth no-one was allowed to use the water to keep the grass alive. Reasonable.

I had planned to write this story all spring, but hadn't had time to start writing it until now, during the summer holidays. I was planning to write a story about a girl who was moving once a year, because of her father's work. I know it doesn't sound much like this, but the story in my head sounded good, and I couldn't wait to start working on it.

So there I sat, out in our garden with the notebook in my knee. It was past one hundred and ten degrees, and I couldn't concentrate. It was disturbing, since I always had written best in the warmth before.

Irritated, I rose and walked out on the street. Not far away there was a town park, from which I usually kept my distance, since kids always disturbed my writing. Thinking that I hadn't been there for over a year, and that there probably wasn't anyone there a hot day as this, I slowly walked into the park. I could immediately establish I was alone, so I sat down at one of the benches, and with my notebook in my knee, I stared to write.

As soon as the pen touched the paper, it was as if I was in another world. All worries, all problems and everything I kept in my head disappeared, and all I could think of was the story and the characters I was writing about. The time past, and I didn't notice anything that were happening around me.

"Hello? Excuse me?" Someone said from a great distance. Or at least it sounded like a great distance. I looked up from my notebook, and only a few yards away, there was a small girl, with her hair in a cap looking at me. It looked like if she was about nine years old. Her pale face was covered with freckles, and she had small, read lips.

"Excuse me," she said again.

"Yeah?" I looked at and tried not to show I was irritated. "What do you want?" I sounded much more unpleasant than I intended to.

"My name is Madison… Can I sit here?"

'Couldn't she sit on another bench?' I thought irritated. There must've been about five benches in a distance of about 20 yards.

"Of course," I said and forced myself to smile. I moved a bit so she would have plenty of room to sit on, and then I turned my face down and put the pen to the paper.

"What are you writing?" She asked when I had written about three letters. I looked up again.

"A story," I answered shortly.

"What's it about?"

"Look, don't you have any friends to play with? There is a slide over there, why not go and play there?" I knew I wasn't very nice, but I wanted to be alone. I was surprised when I noticed she didn't look angry or insulted, just shrugged and said, "I don't like slides, plus I don't want to draw much attention to myself."

"Er… By talking to me you get much more attention than you would've got if you just had played silently on the playground."

"I don't like slides very much anyway," the girl said. "So what's your story gonna be about?"

"A girl who's being forced to move every year because of her father's work." I didn't know why I told her about it.

"I've always wanted to write a story…"

"Well, why don't go home and start writing?" I said, hoping she would leave.

"Nah, I've never had much talent. Can I read yours?"

"I've just started… It's just a few pages…"

"That doesn't matter. Can I read it?"

"Alright," I finally answered. I handed her the story, and waited to hear of her opinion. Not that it mattered. What did a nine-year-old know about writing?

"Your writing is amazing," Madison said. "But… I think you could need a

hand with the story plot. I could help you!"

"Thanks, but uh… I mean you're like… Nine years old? Shouldn't you spend time with friends in _your age?"_

"I'm eleven," she said.

"Eleven?"

"Eleven," she repeated. "How old are you then? Fourteen?"

"Fifteen."

"Exactly. You're just four years older."

"That's quite a lot, uh… Madison."

A distant sound made them both turn their heads.

"Madison!" Someone yelled from the street beside the park.

"Someone's missing you," I said.

"I got to go. Will you come with me and say 'hey' to my mom?" She made it impossible to say no.

"Alright," I said and sighed. I rose, and together we walked to a thin woman standing just outside the park.

"Madison! I told you to stay at home today!" She said with loud voice.

"You say that every day."

"I…" The woman noticed me, and turned to her daughter. "Go home, and stay there. This will be continued."

Madison gave her mother an angry look, and then walked away. Embarrassed, I turned to leave, but the woman who was Madison mother, walked to me.

"I'm Suzie, Madison's mother. I uh… I'm sorry if my daughter has disturbed you in some kind of way…"

"I'm Caroline. And no, she just talked a little. It's nothing to worry about," I hurried to say.

"I know this uh… conversation between me and my daughter must've sounded very… rough. But she was supposed to meet her doctor today. It's the second time she ran away."

"Her doctor?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"Oh… Well… Madison has leukaemia…" It felt like if she had hit me. Leukaemia? That little girl I had been so unpleasant towards? From that moment, I knew I was a terrible person. How could I treat a child with cancer like that?

And then I realized another thing; the small girl called Madison hadn't had her hair under the cap. She probably didn't have any hair at all.

"I'm… I'm so sorry. She didn't tell me. I'm very sorry."

"I hate being forced to be this rough towards her, now when she has just a few…" She stopped, with a terrified look upon her face, and then continued as if nothing had happened. "But she refuses to see the doctor. I think she's scared of what he might tell her…"

"I can understand that… Do you mind if I uh… followed you home, and talked to her? She asked if I needed some help with my writing, and I think I do…"

"You write stories? Madison has always loved to write! How lovely it would be if she could help you!"

I smiled weakly, and then followed Suzie down the street. It turned out they lived just one street from where I lived, but still I never had seen any of them.

"Oh, we just moved here. We lived in an apartment before. But since her cancer became worse again, I wanted to live nearer the hospital," she answered my question. The Miami Dade Memorial Hospital was very close.

"Just walk down the hall, then the third door on your left," she said when we came into the house, and I followed her instructions.

When I stopped in front of a door I knew led into Madison's room, I hesitated. The door was looking just like so many other girls doors did when they were in that age; with a big sign, reading 'MADISON's Room', and a few posters of people I never had heard or seen.

After hesitating another second or so, I knocked and then entered. The room was pretty big, with room for a bed, a desk and a shelf. On the desk, I could see a brand-new laptop. A Mac, from Apple. I had been dreaming of getting an identical computer all year. On the floor, there was a big cage, but I couldn't see an animal in it. I suspected it must be a guinea-pig that was living there, but probably hiding in the small house in the corner of the cage.

Then, after looking at all this, my eyes fell upon the girl who was lying in the bed.

"Hi," I said, and smiled to her. "I uh… I've been thinking a little of your offer to help me. And you're right. The whole idea of my story is really bad, and I could really need a hand with the writing."

She smiled, and then sat up. I could see there was laying a white and black guinea-pig in her knee.

"Mom told you, didn't she?"

"Told me what?" I asked. I have always been a terrible liar.

"About my cancer."

"I… Yes she did."

"So you're just doing this because you feel guilty for threatening a girl with cancer the way you did earlier."

"No, that's not the only reason, Madison. I could really need some help, and you seem to know quite a lot about writing." She didn't reply; just stroke her hand over the animal in her knee.

"What's his or hers name?" I asked.

"This is Jenna. She's not very fond of laying still, actually. And in the cage, sleeping, is Ron."

"Can I wake him up?"

"Of course. Ron loves to sit in peoples knees. Jenna is his opposite. She loves to run around in my room."

I bent down and moved the small house in the cage. In there laid a small, red haired guinea-pig. "Is it Ron, as Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter books?" I asked, thinking of the redhead in the books written by Rowling.

She nodded, smiling. "I love the Harry Potter books, and for some reason I thought of Ron when I bought him. So I named him like Harry's friend, Ron."

"I love the Harry Potter books too," I said, sitting down beside her. "Oh, Ron's gorgeous!" I said, when the small creature cooed happily.

Madison laughed. "No one really notices Ron when Jenna is anywhere near, because she is so fond of people and likes the publicity. Ron, on the other hand, prefers when it's calm and quite around him."

"They're both gorgeous." We were silent for a while; both attentions were directed on the small animals in our knees.

"Madison?"

"Mhm?"

"…You're mother told me about the leukaemia. I just want to say-"

"I don't wanna talk about it," she said and rose, with Jenna in her arms. She let her down in the cage, and then turned to me.

"You never told me your name."

"Oh, you're right. I'm Caroline. I live the next street."

She nodded. "So, you said you wanted some help with your story?"

"Yeah, well, it seemed like you knew a bit of writing, and maybe you could help me?" I knew I had to try to cover up for things I said to her before, but promised myself I would keep writing on the story I had started while home again. No matter what the girl said – it was a good idea and a good story. I just had to work on it a little.

"You want honest answer on what I think of your story?"

I nodded.

"The way you express people's feelings, and make descriptions is wonderful. And I'm not saying this to make you happy, because they whole way you write is really good. But the whole idea of your story, well… I don't think there are so many people who would like to read about a girl who was moving. I mean, of course that might be hard for those who have it that way, but all the same… Well, Caroline, there is no meaning in what you are writing. When I try to write – it does happen sometimes – I write about things that matters to me. Things that I think are of importance."

"Like?"

"Like… 9/11. How that day shattered families and the way it changed the whole world."

Even if it was hard to admit it, I finally understood that she was right about my story. The 9/11 was something of great importance, comparing to what I planned to write. Who cared of a girl who was being forced to move, when tragedies like 9/11 happens?

"You're right… My idea of that girl who is moving every year sucks." I was honest, but I knew Madison thought I said it just to make her happy.

"But what about writing some kind of mix of these two ideas? It _can_ be about a girl who is moving, and maybe she spends one year in New York? Maybe they live in New York in 2001?"

"That's a very good idea," I said thoughtfully. "But how will we write it? Shall we write every second chapter? Or shall one of us write it? Or shall we write it together?"

"I think the result would be best if we wrote it together… And I think you should be the one who is holding the pen."

"Deal," I said, smiling.

"Shall we get started then?" She asked.

"Now?"

"Yes, _now_! Why wait?"

"Well… Alright then, I'll go and get my notebook in the hall." So I went out from the room, and hurried to the hall where I found the notebook just like I had left it. I went back to Madison's room, and we sat down beside each other on the bed.

We discussed how the story was going to start, and then I put the pen on the paper. As soon as I had started writing, I forgot everything that was happening around me. I forgot that Madison was sitting beside me, I forgot that I actually was spending time with a girl who was four years younger, and I forgot about the thing people call 'Time'.

I don't know for how long we sat there, close together with the notebook, and only talking when we decided what to write next. Except for our short conversations about the story, the room was entirely quite, and the only sound was the birds singing outside in the July evening.

A knock on the door broke the silence, and Suzie entered the room.

"Madison, Dr. Miller is here."

The reality hit me in the face, and I was abruptly dragged back to real life.

I felt embarrassed, as if I was rummaging in their privacy. In Madison's privacy.

"I better go," I said and rose hastily.

"Can't you stay?" Madison asked, and for the first time during my stay in their house, I realized how much younger she really was. She looked sad and disappointed that I was leaving, and the young child was shown in her face.

"No, I should get home now anyway. My parents probably wonder where I am, and I don't want to be in your way during your… appointment."

"Okay… But will we see each other tomorrow?"

I smiled to her, as she followed me out of the room. "Maybe. We'll see."

_Isn't it funny how the world always seems to surprise you? The thing is; you never know if the surprise is a good one or not until it dances in front of you._

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** Feel free to leave a review. Next chapter will be here soon - if you want me to update.**


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N: _Thanks for reviewing everyone, it made my day :) I'm in a hurry, but will give you this update before i leave. Enjoy**

**_Disclaimer:_ Everyone knows i don't own CSI: Miami. Why bother to tell you guys?**

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Just like I had known we would, we met the following day. And the day after, and the day after that. For each day, we became closer, and I got used to the fact that I enjoyed the time I spent with a girl who was four years younger. Not that you can't have younger friends – of course you can – but a fifteen year old girl with an eleven year old girl is not that common. But I'll be honest; the days I spent with Madison were both fun and entertaining. Plus, I learned a lot. It might be surprising, but she could tell me a lot I never had heard of, or never thought of.

She saw things and cared of things, in a way I never had seen a human being do.

When I saw a homeless man, I thought 'that's terrible', and then walked away in hurry. When she saw this man the following day, she stopped and started talking to him. Not because she wanted me to think she was brave or anything. But she understood that there was something worth to look at in this person. She could see there was more than a dirty, old man without a real home. She saw a real human being who needed someone who really cared. She didn't do like most of us, looking at him, and thinking 'poor man', then walking by, without giving him another thought. Madison stopped, and talked to him. Showed him that she cared. She found the thing in him worth looking at.

Most of the time we wrote on the story, and we made great progress. New ideas came up every day, and the story which I had thought would be about fifty pages in Word, became hundred and was still not close to finished. Apart from the time we spent writing, we sometimes sat with Jenna and Ron and just talked. It had become natural that I was the one who was holding Ron, and to be honest, it seemed like he liked me a lot. Some days we walked around in Miami, and some days we went to the beach. But we didn't bath. We walked in the sand, and I noticed during the time I spent with Madison that I had no problem thinking of things to talk about. We were open to discuss everything. Everything except her cancer. I had tried to talk about it one more time since the first day we met, but then learned that she didn't want to talk about it.

Something that I couldn't stop thinking of was what Suzie had said the first time we met. 'now when she just has a few…'

I knew what that must mean – even though I didn't want to admit it. Madison was so filled with life and joy, that it seemed unbelievable she was as sick as her mother said. But there were days we couldn't meet, because she had to see her doctor. Between each time she had an appointment with her doctor, I almost started hoping the cancer was just a dream I had a while ago, and that Madison was as healthy as I was. But every time we met, the truth was standing in front of me. I hadn't seen her without that cap, and knew what that must mean. My suspicions were correct. She had no hair. And that spoke for itself. She had leukaemia. She had cancer. And she was getting sicker. I knew it, without really needing to hear it. After each meeting with the doctor, Suzie looked more and more sad, and more and more worried. She loved her daughter, I could tell she did, but she didn't know how to handle the situation. Who could know how to handle a situation like that, when you were about to loose your daughter?

The eleven year old laughed at a joke I just had told, and we walked down the beach. I had stopped care of what people might think if they saw me with a girl who was four years younger than me. I had just woken up (Madison had a tendency to wake me up two or three hours earlier than I was used to leave the bed) and usually forced me to get dressed and then go out. Without taking a shower, eating or use any make-up. So there we were, on the beach, laughing and I was looking like if I had just left the bed. (Which I really had. I had been awake for about ten minutes before Madison forced me to go to the beach with her. Not that she had a hard time forcing me be with her…) And I didn't care, really, of how I was looking. I had changed a lot during the two weeks I had known Madison.

I looked up after Madison had finished the sentence, and stopped dead when I saw who was playing soccer on the beach only a few yards further down the beach. My eyes stopped at the most popular guy at the school. Sean Allan.

All of a sudden, I realized my hair hadn't been brushed in days, my T-shirt was dirty, my legs unshaved and I had dark rings under my eyes.

"What is it?" Madison asked, and then followed my look.

"Who is he?" She asked when she saw who I was looking at.

I turned and walked back, but Madison waited for me to answer.

"Sean Allan," I mumbled, and then she started to walk beside me again.

"Sean Allan? And you like him, don't you?"

"No…" But I knew she could see right through my lie even before I had said it. "Well, yes, a little. But every girl in my year does."

"Why?"

"Madison, you might be smart and everything, but if you can't see how good looking he is, then I've just found the one thing you don't know anything about."

Madison shrugged. "I think he looks pretty silly. I mean, look at the way he walks. He looks more like a gorilla than a human being when he walks like that. And by the look on his face, it looks like if he smells at a pair of bad smelling socks or something."

I laughed.

"Madison, you can say whatever you want, it still doesn't change the fact that he's hot. Really hot."

Madison shrugged again. "Whatever you say." But I knew she still didn't agree with me. And I wasn't going to try to make her change her mind. She was too young, I thought, and I couldn't blame her for not caring of boys in the age of eleven.

"What do you think of going home and writing a little?" I asked and Madison's face turned into a smile when the story was mentioned.

"Yeah! Let's run!" And she set of, before I even had registered what she had said.

"Hey! That's called cheating!" I called after her. I heard her laughing and then I started running to. I never had been a very good runner, and I wasn't surprised when the distance between me and her grew bigger and bigger.

I left the beach behind me, and I saw Madison turn a street later than we used to walk on our way home. Thinking she must've chosen that street of mistake, I turned one street earlier, by doing that I would earn at least thirty yards, and maybe just loose by twenty yards. But after running just a short part of the way, I was forced to stop. They were digging up the street for some reason, and there was no way to pass the hole in the ground. I was forced to turn back, and when I finally stopped outside Madison's house, Madison was sitting with a glass of cold water in her hand. She looked at her not-existing-watch on her arm, just to tease me.

"Oh, that's funny," I said and fell down beside her on the ground.

"Give that to me," I said, and took the glass of water from her hand. I emptied it, and then gave it back to her.

"You're welcome," she said and laughed. I tried not to smile, but it was impossible. I started laughing, and for some reason I couldn't stop. It was so nice to laugh and for some reason Madison started to laugh with me. And there we laid, in the grass in Madison's garden, both of us laughing – without really knowing why.

After laying there for I don't know how long, we went inside and started writing. Nowadays I took Ron from the cage without bothering to ask if I was allowed to; I knew she was just glad I liked him.

"You know, he likes you a lot," Madison said when we were in the middle of the writing.

"Who?"

"Ron, of course. You know what?"

I shook my head.

"I think you should be his owner. It's obvious he likes you more than me, and Jenna likes me more than you. So why not decide that he's yours?"

I waited for a sign that it was a joke, but I couldn't find one. "You're serious? But Ron likes you a lot too, I mean… I can't take care of a guinea-pig, and he's yours!"

"First, he likes you more than me. Second, yes, he's mine and maybe I want him to be yours. Third, yes, you can take care of a guinea-pig. Fourth, if you want to, he can be yours unofficially, and still live here with Jenna."

"Deal," I said and I couldn't help to smile. I was happy. I was really happy, and not only because I just had gotten a guinea-pig.

– Unofficially, I added in my mind.

You could think that the only reason I spent time with Madison, was that all my friends were on holidays now on the summer, but for your information they had been home for a long time, and I still chose to spend time with Madison. She was a special girl, and I couldn't help but enjoy the time I spent with her more than I did with the two friends that were home now. (My two best friends were still away, travelling) But Madison was something special, and something new. I knew all my other friends in and out, and still it felt like, after just two weeks, I knew Madison much better than I ever would know any of my other friends. So when my two (and only) friends that where home now called me during the last weeks of the summer holidays, I said I was busy and was meeting another friend. I think they thought I lied, and that I didn't want to see them. But when two more weeks had passed, and I hadn't seen them in about six weeks, I met them in the shopping centre when I and Madison were about to buy a couple of new notebooks. – We had used all we owned by now.

"Caroline? Is that you?" Jennifer asked, when they noticed me and Madison. I watched her and saw how her eyes moved from me, down to the 'little' girl beside me.

"Are you uh… babysitting?" She asked when she had looked at Madison for a moment or two.

I gave her a long look before answering. "No, Jennifer, this is my _friend_ Madison." Jennifer had always been like that, and when I thought of it, I myself had always been like that – before I met Madison. I knew my friend didn't mean any harm, but still I got angry when she looked down at my friend.

Sofia, who had been looking for a book a bit further in the shop, came hurrying when she saw us.

"Caroline, hun, gosh it's been ages! Where have you been!? I thought you'd be home all summer!" She suddenly noticed Madison standing beside me, and looked down at her. "Uh, who's this, Caroline?"

"This is my friend I told you about – Madison." Sofia looked at Madison's cap. She was friendly enough not to mention it, but I could see a wrinkle in her forehead. If she'd known, then she would've been totally different, and definitely not criticized Madison's cap.

"Hi," Madison said. "You must be… uh… what did you say their names were? Oh, hang on, I don't think you've mentioned them… You've not mentioned anyone but Meghan and Becki, Caroline," she said, and I could feel her delight of the effect of her words.

"You've not told your… _friend_ of us?" Jennifer looked at me with big eyes, but Sofia shot her a look then said, "Well, I'm Sofia, and this is Jennifer."

"Pleasure," said Madison, but even though they couldn't hear it, I still noticed the small touch of sarcasm in her voice.

"Now, we should really get going, Madison. We've got to buy these, and then get back home."

"You forget about Ron. We were supposed to get him a present." Sofia and Jennifer's eyes went bigger than ever before, and I understood they must think Ron was my boyfriend.

"You haven't told of us anyone called Ron, Caroline!"

"No time to explain. C'mon Caroline!" Madison said, and then dragged me away.

We paid for the five notebooks, and then went out of the shop.

"Why did you do that?! I _have_ mentioned both Sofia and Jennifer."

"Well, you never told me they were idiots, so I thought this must be some other friends…"

"Madison! Those are my friends!"

"Not much of friends according to me. Are all your friends like that, or are Becki and Meghan nicer?"

"What do you mean, 'like that?'" I knew what she meant by 'that', but didn't want to admit it to Madison. Jennifer and Sofia were not my two best friends. They were two new friends of mine, I had just known them for a few months, and they were, well… obsessed with gossip, boys and parties. I wasn't like that, for real. And they knew it, but still I could be a little like that when I was with them. So now, when I spent time with Madison, I understood why they were so surprised when they saw me together with a, in their eyes, little girl.

"You know what I mean. They were complete idiots."

"They're not."

Madison didn't argue, and I could see she was satisfied with how the chat turned out.

"And what was that – 'you must get Ron a present'? You wanted them to think we were hanging out with guys all the time, and that I just had gotten a new boyfriend!"

Madison chuckled, but didn't reply.

_When you're used to something, you're often blind to the truth. But those who aren't used to this, sees it from a completely different light._

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**Thanks for reading, and hey, you who reviewed last chapter... well, you're just awesome.**


	3. Chapter 3

**_A/N:_ Oh man... What a week... When i wrote this story a while ago, well, i didn't feel very well at that time.. This was the result. **

**_Disclaimer: _Jerry Bruckheimer, CBS, well the list could continue and be much longer. I'll make my list short, cos i don't know all the names for the whole.. **

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The days past, and before we knew it, the school was about to start. The last day before we both started school, we spent at the beach. I knew I was bound to meet at least a couple of my friends. We were after all in Miami. You couldn't avoid meeting someone you knew when you were at the beach in Miami. 

We lay on our stomachs on towels in the sand, discussing chapter fourteen for the story. The sun burned our backs, but we were in a too deep discussion to really notice it.

"Caroline!" Someone yelled from a distance. "Caroline!" I looked up, and saw Meghan and Becki coming running towards me. My mouth formed to a smile, and I rose to greet my friends. We hugged each other. They had both been away all summer, Meghan in Manhattan and Becki in Spain. I myself had only been outside the State twice, but never been outside America.

"We've tried to call you all day!" Becki said.

"And I tried to call you yesterday too, but your phone is dead," Meghan informed me.

I thought of my cell phone at home. The battery hadn't been charged for over two weeks, and the phone hadn't been used the last two weeks either. I hadn't been in any need of a phone while spending time with Madison, since it would be easier to meet when we almost lived next door. To walk from one place to the other took about one minute.

"Well… It's probably 'cos I haven't charged it for about two weeks," I said and laughed a little. "And Becki, Meghan, this is Madison. I met her about a month ago, and we've been meeting every day since."

"Hey, nice to meet you, Madison," Becki said, smiling. I thought of the big differences between these two friends of mine and Jennifer and Sofia. And the big difference of how they reacted towards Madison. I knew which one I preferred. And I knew which of them could be called friends, and which couldn't.

"Yeah, hi Madison," Meghan said, also smiling. "I'm Meghan, and this is Becki."

"Caroline told me about you two. It's nice to finally meet you." It was obvious that Madison liked Meghan and Becki much more than Jennifer and Sofia. I couldn't help but agreeing with her.

"Why don't you join us?" I asked, knowing Madison wouldn't mind. She had been having me for herself for one month, she couldn't complain if she had to share me with two of my friends this day.

"Thanks," they said, and put their towels and other things beside ours.

"So how come you two met?" Meghan asked.

"Well… We met in the park close to where I live one day."

"Nice. Aren't you gonna take that cap off?" Becki asked. "It must be very hot with that on your head."

I turned to look at Madison, wondering what she would answer. I knew she wouldn't tell them of the reason she wore it – thinking she didn't want to talk about it with me either.

"Oh, it protects from the sun," she answered airily, and then the conversation kept going, without coming close to the subject of Madison's cancer. Madison seemed to like my two best friends, and I was glad she liked them.

Hours past without we really noticed it. We ate some ice cream, and talked. We told them about our story, but refused to tell them what it was about or anything about the writing. They told me that they had met Sofia and Jennifer one day (one of those days I had spent with Madison and told them I was busy), and it had ended up with a big row. So apparently I wasn't the only one who was tired of the two girls.

"But hang on…" Madison said. "Caroline, you're starting High School this year; do you two start High School tomorrow too?" She asked, turning to Becki and Meghan.

"Yeah," Meghan said, nodding. "We were lucky and will start the same school – all of us."

"But that's great!"

"Yeah, I know," Becki said, "We were so happy when we got the news that we all would be able to be at the same school."

Madison nodded.

"And which year do you start, Madison?" Meghan asked.

"I'm starting sixth grade," she said.

"Oh, you're that young?! But you seem to be much older!" Meghan said with surprise. I could see Madison was proud, and at that moment, I could've hugged Meghan as thanks for her kindness. The truth was that if you looked at Madison, you would think she was about ten years old. But when you talked to her she seemed to be around our age. And I was thankful Meghan thought she was older than she really was, and not the contrary.

"Yeah, I'm just eleven. But I'm turning twelve in about two months."

"I thought you were like us, or maybe one year younger! Then you're starting Middle Year now, right? How're you feeling?"

"I'm a bit nervous," Madison admitted.

"Don't be. It will be alright. It's always good to be a bit nervous."

"I guess…"

"Shit, the time is running away from us, Meghan!" Becki said suddenly. "We have to go, or we'll miss the movie."

"You're going to the cinema?" Madison asked.

"Yeah, you two want to come?"

Madison and I looked at each other for a moment before I answered, "No thanks, Becki, we've planned to spend the last day of the summer holidays together just writing. But thanks anyway. Have a good time!"

"Alright, and we will."

After saying goodbye to each other the couple left, and I and Madison were alone again.

"I liked them," Madison said.

"You liked them just because they thought you were older than you are," I said, feeling in a teasing mood. Madison had a tendency to always be able to ignore me when I was teasing her, and she did so this time too.

"That's what friends are like. Not like those two… What were they called again?" I knew she remembered their names.

" Jennifer and Sofia," I muttered. "And yeah, you're right… They're not the nicest people I know."

"Of course I am right," she said and smiled.

We started school, and I must admit there was a lot of people who thought I was a bit weird when they saw me spending time with a (in their eyes) little girl. But I didn't care – Becki and Meghan knew Madison and hadn't judged her or me when they met us. As long as I had friends by my side, I didn't care. Meghan and Becki didn't spend as much time with Madison as I did though. When Madison waited for me outside school (since her school-day usually ended much earlier than mine) they usually stayed and talked with us for a while, before going home. Sometimes all of us spent time together, but it didn't happen very often. I don't know why, really, but I think they understood there was something important they didn't know about Madison, and it can be hard to spend time with someone you're supposed to know, but after all you just know very little about her.

And mine and Madison's story became longer and longer, even though it took much longer to finish a chapter now than it did before, since we both had school and homework that took a lot of time. But we still could write about a chapter every second week, and after a month in school we had now written seventeen chapters, and we still had a lot to write.

It had been an ordinary day in school, and I was on my way out from the school together with Meghan and our new friend Christina. Becki was sick so it was just us. I was looking forwards to spend the rest of the day with Madison. We hadn't met all week, and the fact that it was Thursday made it even weirder. So when I that day walked down to the place where I and Madison usually met – I was surprised to find the place empty.

Thinking that Madison probably just had forgotten we were supposed to meet this day (still I couldn't ignore the fact that she never had forgotten a day we were supposed to meet). But I said goodbye to Meghan and Christina, and asked them to tell Becki hey from me, and then made my way home to Madison.

I pressed the doorbell another time, and waited for the door to be opened. It was the third time I rang at their doorbell, and still there was no sign of life inside the house.

_She might be waiting for me at home_, I thought and started to walk down the street. But I couldn't ignore the little voice inside me, screaming there could be one reasonable reason she wasn't where we were supposed to meet.

_She's alright,_ I thought and turned to walk down my street.

_She's alright._

I stopped outside our house, and opened the unlocked door. " Madison?" I called.

"Caroline?" I gave out a relieved sight, and went to the kitchen, where the voice had come from.

"Madison, I thought we were going to meet-" But there I stopped; it wasn't Madison who was sitting in the kitchen. It was just my brother.

Feeling how my heart started to beat faster again, I asked, "Have you seen Madison today? She's not at school and nobody's home at her place…"

"No, not seen her all day. She was in school yesterday, though." My brother saw the worried look in my face and added, "But don't worry, she probably just forgot. Have you checked at her school? I didn't see her today, but it's possible I missed her."

"I'll go and talk to her teacher then… Maybe I should try to call her first, though."

I took my phone out, and pressed a button on the speed dial. Nobody answered, and I heard her answering machine start. I left a quick message, asking her to call me as soon as she heard it, and that I was starting to get worried. I ended the call, and started walking to Madison's school. After walking about five blocks, my mobile started to ring and without checking who it was, I answered; " Madison?"

"No, Caroline, it's Suzie."

"Suzie, hey... Where's Madison? I've tried to call her, and can't find her…"

"She's with me… At the hospital. She woke up about four a.m. and didn't feel good, so we had to leave for the hospital."

"How is she? What happened?" I thought I knew what it was about, but I didn't want to hear it. I hoped it would be something totally different, that she just had a fever or something like that.

"Caroline, I don't know how much Madison has told you about her leukaemia… But, uh…" I heard how she took a deep breath, and then continued, "It has gotten worse and worse, and…" her voice trembled, and she had to take a few more deep breaths before she was able to continue.

"When you first met her, about two month's ago, we already knew she didn't have much time left. I think I almost told you that day, but then decided not to. But the thing is, that… that… her life is running out. She's not having much time left." I almost fell down to the pavement, and felt a big lump in my throat.

"How… how long do they think she's got left?" I managed to ask.

"They can't tell anything for sure, because it changes from one to another, but a couple of weeks. Max."

It was like if the world stopped. There were no birds singing anymore, no cars making sounds, no wind in the trees, or any clouds moving on the sky. Everything was still, and it felt like if the whole world was holding its breath.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," I said with a weak voice, and just before I hung up, I heard a sob in the phone.

I don't quite remember the walk to the hospital. From the time Suzie called me, until met her in the hospital, everything is blurred. I don't remember if I walked or went home to get my bike. Maybe I even ran all way. I don't know. But from the moment I met Suzie in the reception, I remember it all very clearly. I have never seen Suzie like that before. She didn't try to hide her worry, and it was obvious she had been crying various times. The make-up was a disaster, the mascara was a mess; she was black about two centimetres down under her eyes. Her eyes were swollen and I understood she couldn't have gotten much sleep this day - or night.

" Caroline!" She called when she saw me entering the reception, and before I had time to answer, she embraced me in a hug. "I'm so glad you came, Madison will be so happy!"

"How… how is she?"

"Oh, she's… okay. She's a bit tired, but I think she'll feel a lot better when she sees you! She wanted to call you, but when she had time, you were in the middle of a lesson, and then she had more doctors talking to her, so there was no spare time until just now."

"Don't worry… So uh… Where is she?" Suzie led me to the lifts and then we walked down a corridor that never seemed to end. My head was empty, and I don't know how long we walked until we finally stopped outside a door, and she led me into a room.

Madison was lying in the bed, without the cap I was so used to see her in. To see her with just skin on the top of her head was a sight like nothing else. Just to see the child that she really was, being so small and helpless, was like being shot right in the heart. It hurt. A lot.

I took a deep breath and took another step into the room. Madison's head directly turned to me, and when she saw who was entering the room, her mouth turned into a big smile. Seeing her smile made me think that, for just one second, everything was alright. But it wasn't, and the second I felt relief and happiness disappeared as fast as it first had appeared.

" Caroline!" She said and stretched her arms out to embrace me in a hug. "I'm so glad you came!"

"How are you?" I asked seriously.

She just waved it away, and said, "I'm fine, don't worry." But I was worried. Still I knew she didn't want to talk about it, and I did my best to stay away from the subject.

"So what are you doing?" I asked, and Madison shrugged.

"Here's not much to do. Mom said she would go and get my laptop when you were coming, so I guess she'll go home and get some stuff fore me."

"You want me to go get something?"

"No, please don't leave. I enjoy the time you're here much more than I do when I do stuff alone or meet other people."

I smiled sadly, thinking how little there was left of this girls life. She was just eleven years old, and she was already in the end of her life. What if she didn't survive to experience her twelfth birthday...?

_Learn this: LIFE ISN'T FAIR_

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**Please don't be mad. I had to express my feelings. This was the result...  
Two chapters left, guys. And you know what? **

**Life isn't fair. **

**Sorry, i didn't want to sound that evil. But it's true... Thanks for reading, and feel free to review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N:_** Oh man... I don't think you can imagine how hard it was for me to write this chapter. I even cried a time or two. Thanks everyone for reading.

**_Disclaimer:_** I own nothing. CBS, Jerry Bruckheimer and some other lucky persons do.

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I spent all day at the hospital, and refused to leave Madison's side. Madison seemed to be alright. Her mood was on top all day and we talked about everything that didn't come close to what Madison didn't want to talk about. 

The clock was past midnight, and I still stayed by her side. Suzie had been forced to go home and get some sleep, and then she would come back early in the morning. Madison had been sleeping for about one hour, and I was getting tired. I lay down beside her in her bed, and held her close. I looked down at her face, and saw her smile in sleep.

"Stay with me," I whispered silently. "Please stay with me…"

"I always will," she replied, half awake, half asleep. A few seconds later she was sleeping again, and for the first time that day, I started crying. I didn't cry because I wanted the future to change, because I knew that was impossible.

I cried because I knew what was going to happen in the future.

Have you ever wished you could know what was going to happen in the future? Ever wished you could know how your competition would turn out, what the test results would be or if you were going to get that job or not?

That must be the worst thing to wish.

I say this because I know. You do not want to know what's going to happen to you in the future. To grief for something that is going to happen later is the worst thing you ever could do. But still I grieved.

I cried for all people who were dying that very moment. I cried for all people who just found out they had leukaemia. I cried for all people who were, in that very minute, getting to know how much longer they were going to live. I cried for all children that were about to die.

I cried for Madison.

"Don't leave me," I sobbed, tears streaming down my cheeks. "I wouldn't manage to live without you."

This time there was no reply.

No one heard my pleads. No one heard my sobs. No one saw my tears.

No one was there to console me.

But I was there for Madison. And that was all that mattered to me.

When I woke up the following day I found Madison watching me.

"Morning," she said. "Slept well?"

I yawned as reply.

"You know what? It's ten past eight… You start school in twenty minutes."

"But… I'm not going to school."

"Of course you are! We'll see each other in some hours, won't we? But you'll have to promise you'll come back as soon as school is over."

"You sure?" She nodded. "Alright, and I promise. See you!"

I hurried out of the room and met Suzie just outside. After giving Suzie a quick explanation, I hurried to school.

When I met my friends outside the classroom, they looked at me with big eyes. Jennifer and Sofia past by, with scornful looks upon their faces.

"What?" I asked, giving Becki, Meghan and Christina a wondering look.

"Uh… How are you, honey? Has something happened?" Becki asked.

At first I thought I was going to tell them, but then I thought of Madison, and that she probably didn't want me to tell them.

"No, I'm fine. Why?"

"Well…" Christina started.

"You've not looked yourself in the mirror today, have you?" Meghan asked.

"No," I said, and realized this was true.

"Well, my advice is to do so," Becki said, grinning.

I gave my friends another wondering look, and then went to the bathroom a bit farther down the corridor. When I had locked the door behind me, I looked up and saw what was supposed to be my face in the mirror. But there wasn't much I recognized.

I looked as terrible as Suzie had when I met her at the hospital the day before. My mascara was all messed up, and I remembered I hadn't used the water proof last day. I was pale with dark rings under my eyes. My lips were cracked and dry, and my hair… Well, my hair was impossible to describe at that moment.

I was a mess.

I washed away the rest of the make-up, and tried to make my hair look alright. Or as good as possible, since it still looked terrible when I was forced to go out of the bathroom because my lesson was about to start.

I noticed many were looking at me, but I didn't really care. I forced myself not to think too much of Madison during the lesson – but still I couldn't help but worrying. My friends noticed I wasn't myself and I could see them exchanging wondering and worried glances when they thought I wasn't looking.

The day went by, with many wondering looks and scornful smiles, but I was too worried about Madison that I didn't really notice. When school was over, I directly went to the hospital, after making excuses not to be with my friends at the afternoon (something we had planned more than a week ago).

I went through the already open door, and found Madison in the bed. She looked as healthy as ever and her mouth turned into a big smile when she saw me.

"Finally! What took you so long?"

"Meghan, Becki, Christina and I were supposed to meet each other after school today. I had to come up with excuses why I couldn't be with them. It took some time to make them realize I wouldn't come, no matter what they said."

"So you didn't tell them where you really were going?" Madison asked, and I could tell she was relieved.

"No, of course not. You don't want them to know, do you?"

"No… but still I can't force you to keep quite about it, and lie to your friends…"

"Don't worry," I said, "they'll accept that. They'll understand."

"No, it's not right to force you to risk your friendship with them when I'm about to die. That would be selfish of me."

She never had mentioned her leukaemia like that before and most certainly never said she was going to die.

"But, Madison-" She rose her hand to stop me.

"Please tell them." I shock my head, but she ignored me. "Tell them. Do it for me."

She had found my weakness, and she knew I had no choice but to give her the one answer, "I'll tell them…" I said, and she smiled thankfully.

"What about starting chapter twenty now then?"

For each week that passed, I noticed that Madison looked thinner and thinner. Her head had still no sign of hair on it, and there came doctors more and more often. But I could also see that Madison was fighting. She was fighting her cancer in a way I thought was impossible. I could see that the doctors were shocked; she had lived longer then they thought possible.

Nowadays I couldn't see her for more than two ours a day, because there was so many doctors wanting to check her all the time. But the real reason that I couldn't see her more often was that she was too tired to see me more than one or to hours at a time.

I had told Becki, Meghan and Christi about Madison. They were shocked, to say the least. Four times they visited Madison at the hospital. After that, I think they didn't feel comfortable to come and see her become weaker.

It had now passed three weeks since her first day at the hospital, and I had been in her room for just forty-five minutes before she fell asleep. She had really tried to stay awake, tried to make her eyes stay opened just a bit longer, but after three quarters of an hour, she couldn't do it anymore. She fell asleep.

To watch a child get destroyed like this, slowly and painfully, was more than I could take.

I was frustrated and angry. How could I and everyone else just sit there, watch such a wonderful girl fall apart and die a slow and painful death?

I rushed out of the room, and honestly I don't think I knew what I was doing. A bit further down the corridor, I met a doctor I knew was on his way to Madison's room. I had been shooed out of her room many times by him.

"Doctor Miller!" I called, and stopped beside him.

"Caroline?"

"Madison is getting worse, so why don't you do something?! You're supposed to be a doctor, why don't you make her feel better?! Why don't you help her?!" I found myself screaming the last sentence. Dr. Miller didn't look shocked, but I thought I could see pity in his face. This made me even angrier; it wasn't me he was supposed to feel sorry for, it was Madison.

"Come, let's talk in my office." I followed him to his office in the next corridor, and he offered me to sit down in the chair in front of the desk. I remained standing.

"Caroline, you have to understand that-"

"How can you just watch her die, without doing anything?! I know people can survive leukaemia, I know children have survived leukaemia, so why don't you save Madison!?!" I felt tears falling down my cheeks, and angrily wiped the tears off my face. "WHY DON'T YOU HELP MADISON?"

"CAROLINE! Enough!" Dr. Miller yelled, and I closed my mouth in shock. "I. Do. Not. Just. Watch. Madison. Die."

I sat down in the chair he had offered me, and it was as if I woke up from a dream. I realized where I was and what I was doing. Dr. Miller's face turned from angry and upset to sad and tired.

"I have been Madison's doctor for years," he started. "I have done everything within my power to help that little girl. That is something I can say without lying or feeling guilty. Because I have done everything I can. I understand how you feel, but it seems like you don't understand how I feel.

I have been with Madison since the very start. She has been more than a patient to me, and I care about her more than you can imagine. To watch her die like this is hurting me as much as it hurts you."

More tears came running down my cheeks, but this time I didn't wipe them away.

"Can't you… help her in some way?"

He shook his head sadly. "There is nothing I can do for her anymore. The one who has made her stay with us this long, I think, is you. You have been the sun that lightness her day. That she keeps fighting is because of her love to you. But not even such strong friendship can keep away Death. You have to accept this, Caroline, or you will never be able to say farewell when it is time."

I let a small cry leave my lips before I lowered my head and cried to my knees. Dr. Miller rose from his chair from behind the desk, and walked to the chair I was sitting in. He patted me on my back, and said something. I couldn't hear what.

I don't know for how long I sat there, crying, with Dr. Millers hand on my back.

What made me come back to earth was when I saw a small tear fall upon the arm rest where I rested my head now. I looked up in his face and saw another tear leave Dr. Miller's eye.

When I came back to the hospital the following day, it was early in the morning. It was Saturday, so I wasn't in school, and I knew that Madison sometimes was more alert than usual in the mornings.

I knocked at the already open door, but there was no reply. Madison was lying in her bed as usual, with her eyes closed. I felt my heart beat faster.

"Madison?"

"I'm alive, don't worry," she mumbled with a small smile on her lips, her eyes still closed.

I gave out a relieved sigh, and walked to her bed. "How are you? You look pale."

Madison chuckled weakly, and moved to the edge of the bed and then motioned me to lie down beside her. Madison opened her eyes when she felt me beside her, and said, "How are Ron and Jenna?"

I had been taking care of the two guinea-pigs since Madison went to the hospital. The doctors didn't think it was healthy to have animals in Madison's room, so they were living at my place nowadays.

"Oh they're fine. They asked me to say hi." Madison giggled, and closed her eyes again.

"Can you promise me something?" She asked me.

"Anything," I replied without hesitating.

"Can you take care of them when I'm gone? We decided that Ron was yours, but can you take care of them both? And keep them at your place?"

"You don't want Suzie to have them?"

"I know you'll take care of them better than mom ever will." She smiled but she kept her eyes shut.

"Of course I will take care of them then."

"Thanks," she said and grabbed my hand.

"Always, honey," I said and squeezed her hand lightly.

"And can you promise me another thing?" I nodded, and even though her eyes still were closed she must've felt it, because she soon continued.

"Promise you'll continue and finish our story."

"I… But, Madison I-"

"Promise me you'll finish it."

"Aright, I will." This time it was Madison that squeezed my hand. It was a very light squeeze, almost impossible to feel, but I felt it. That she hadn't powers to squeeze my hand harder then that, meant that she had less powers left than I thought possible. Her weakness made my eyes filled with tears.

"And one last thing."

"What?"

"Promise me you'll not grief forever and ever. Promise me you'll get over my death."

I couldn't answer, neither could I hold my tears back any longer. I started crying again, and Madison just waited for me to calm down. She took a new, and little stronger grip of my hand, and that must've been what made me calm down. That she put so much strain on her powers just to show me she was there.

"Promise me you'll keep going," she said and opened her eyes. For some reason I understood this was the last time I was going to see her eyes open. I looked into her deep blue eyes, and nodded. I could see she was satisfied and again she closed her eyes.

"Don't forget to miss me. But don't miss me too much."

I laughed between my sobs, and then said, "Of course I'll miss you – every night and every day."

"Not that much though," Madison whispered. "It's enough with once in a while."

"You're the boss," I whispered back, and Madison gave a sound that must've been a laugh.

Suzie entered the room, and I rose from the bed.

"Caroline, you don't have to-"

"No, I'll leave you two alone for a while." And without giving Suzie time to reply, I left the room and went to the reception. There I sat down in one of the chairs and waited for Suzie.

I knew I had said my last words to Madison, and when Suzie came out of Madison's room about half an hour later, I know what must've happened. I saw her crying. I went to comfort her, and outside the door to Madison's room, I hugged her. She cried to my shoulder, and I cried to hers.

Outside it started raining, and I knew the sky was crying. It cried with us, and it shared our sorrow. The sky was crying for Madison.

_The end always seems so far away, but maybe it isn't that far after all…_

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Thanks for reading. And you guys who reviewed last chapter are awesome. 


	5. Epilogue

**_A/N:_** Oh, man... The feelings for this story are so mixed, you have no idea.. In one way i think it's horrible it's over now, you know. In another way it's... I can't help but feeling a little relieved. It's just such a horrible story, such a sad story, and in that way i'm relieved it's over. Though i'm gonna miss it loads... Isn't it weird how much feelings you can have for a few pages with some _words_? Human beings are weird things... Or well, i am at least..  
I wrote a sad ending for this story. Just like i knew i would. You guys who have reviewed The Story of Madison Keaton, i can't thank you all enough. It means so much. Now enjoy the last chapter everyone.

**_Disclaimer:_** Caroline is mine. Or well, it's me. Becki, Christina and Meghan are mine. or well, my friends... Madison and Suzie belongs to CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer, though...

_**

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Epilogue **_

It was about five months since Madison's death and I was sitting at a café with view to the beach. I was having a nice cup of coffee in front of me, and just sat there, watching the waves in the ocean, and the people on the beach.

It was a beautiful day in the beginning of the spring. In the edge of my eye, I saw a guy and a young girl enter the café, laughing. They sat down round the table next to me, and I couldn't help but turning my head a little to see if it was someone I knew.

It was someone I knew. It was Sean Miller, together with Jennifer.

I hadn't spoken to Jennifer in weeks (we were official enemies at this time), and Sean… I hadn't thought of Sean since… I don't know when. He had left my thoughts at the same time as Madison had left this earth.

I remembered when I and Madison had seen Sean at the beach. And I remembered how I had thought that Madison knew nothing about boys. Now I knew better; she had known more of boys than I ever have. She saw right through Sean, and that was quite understandable, I realized now.

I looked at him with his new girlfriend not far away. He _did_ look really silly. He _did_ look like a gorilla when he walked, and it _did_ look like if he smelled on an already used sock.

I couldn't help but laugh at this. I didn't care of those around me who looked at me and thought I was crazy. Madison had been right all along. And I had been wrong. As usual. And she had known it.

And about the promises I made… I have taken care of Ron and Jenna. They got younglings a little while ago, so at home there are two cages at the moment. Three six week old guinea-pigs are running around in one of the cages, and they are adorable. One of them is like a twin of Ron. They are identical. So I did as I promised – I'm taking good care of them.

And I can't say grieving too much either. I miss her – I really do – but I've learned to control my sorrow, and now I can talk and think about her without feeling like I was being shot. Still, there will always be an empty spot in my heart where Madison used to be. And she's still there, in one way. Because she will never leave my heart.

And about the story… I must be honest. I'm still not strong enough to finish it. I and Madison wrote till chapter twenty-two. There will be twenty-seven chapters, we decided that in the very beginning. So I've got five chapters to write. And I will write them, I will finish them. I will finish our story.

But first I wrote this. The story of Madison. This was written as a honour of Madison's memory, but it's also a way for me to get over her death. To make me as whole as a person who has lost someone can be. And I think I am whole now. I think I'm whole, because I have realized that the spot in my heart where Madison used to be has never been empty.

Because she's always with me.

In my heart.

_The ones we love never leave us. They are always with us, no matter where we go and what we do._

Here ends the story of Madison Keaton.


End file.
